Staff Shortages

Education news, analysis, and opinion about challenges associated with having unfilled school or district staff positions
School buses sit in a lot on Feb. 6, 2024, in Virginia Beach, Va.
School buses sit in a lot on Feb. 6, 2024, in Virginia Beach, Va. School districts are again struggling to find enough bus drivers for the 2024-25 school year.
Tom Brenner/AP
School & District Management Schools Don't Have Enough Bus Drivers to Start the School Year—Again
Bus driver shortages have worsened nationwide since 2020. Many districts are still scrambling to find enough people to transport students.
Mark Lieberman, August 15, 2024
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6 min read
Facility and prospective applicants gather at William Penn School District's teachers job fair in Lansdowne, Pa., Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
Facility and prospective applicants gather at William Penn School District's teachers job fair in Lansdowne, Pa., Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
Matt Rourke/AP
Recruitment & Retention Some Districts Are Still Struggling to Hire Teachers for the New Year
As the school year creeps closer, districts are still trying to find qualified teachers to fill spots.
Brooke Schultz, August 12, 2024
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6 min read
York City School District police officer Britney Brooks walks one of her rounds on March 8, 2018, at William Penn Senior High School in York. Brooks began working as a school police officer in 2015. The York City School District is the only one in York County with its own police department. Officers, who have the power of arrest, operate on a community policing ideology to prevent incidents rather than react to them.
York City School District police officer Britney Brooks walks one of her rounds on March 8, 2018, at William Penn Senior High School in York, Pa. School districts have had to get creative to fill school resource officer positions as police departments nationwide face recruiting challenges.
Chris Dunn/York Daily Record via AP
Recruitment & Retention Why This District Established Its Own Police Department
Police departments nationwide are struggling to recruit officers. That makes it difficult for districts to find school resource officers.
Caitlynn Peetz, August 7, 2024
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7 min read
United States flag pencil drawing an up arrow over a road. Success direction planning symbol as a pencil drawing an upward 3D illustration arrow from a straight road as a symbol for the growing American public education and civic engagement.
iStock/Getty
Federal Opinion How to Get Ahead of a Trump Education Agenda
An attorney at the Center for Law and Education proposes three K-12 ideas to recommit to the promise of public education.
Chris Yarrell, August 2, 2024
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5 min read
Recruitment & Retention Spotlight Spotlight on Teacher Shortages: Causes, Impacts, and Effective Solutions
This Spotlight will help you learn what teachers say keeps them on the job, key steps to building teacher pipelines, and more.
July 22, 2024
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men and women entering and exiting open doorways on an isolated blue background
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Special Education Why Special Education Teachers Quit—and What Schools Are Doing About It
States and districts take creative approaches to retain special education teachers.
Evie Blad, May 28, 2024
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5 min read
A cybersecurity icon over a computer classroom seen through a screen of binary code.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
IT Infrastructure & Management It's Not Just About AI. Schools Are Facing 5 Other Tech Challenges, Too
In addition to the use of AI in education, schools must pay attention to several big tech challenges.
Lauraine Langreo & Vanessa Solis, May 14, 2024
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4 min read
A teacher putting her arms around her students, more students than she can manage herself. A shortage of Special Education teachers.
Nicole Xu for Education Week
Recruitment & Retention Retention Is the Missing Ingredient in Special Education Staffing
Many special education teachers switch to other teaching positions. Districts are exploring ways to keep them in the needed role.
Evie Blad, May 13, 2024
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9 min read
A classroom at Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pa., sits empty on May 3, 2023. Teachers in the state left their jobs at an accelerating rate, according to an analysis that found attrition in Pennsylvania doubled in the 2022-23 school year. New studies paint a complex picture of the national pipeline.
A classroom at Penn Wood High School in Lansdowne, Pa., sits empty on May 3, 2023. Teachers in the state left their jobs at an accelerating rate, according to an analysis that found attrition in Pennsylvania doubled in the 2022-23 school year. New studies paint a complex picture of the national pipeline.
Matt Rourke/AP
Recruitment & Retention What the Research Says Some Positive Signs for the Teacher Pipeline, But It's Not All Good. What 3 Studies Say
Teacher-prep enrollment is stabilizing, but school-level turnover is still high.
Madeline Will, March 22, 2024
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8 min read
Students in Sofia Alvarez-Briglie's class test the design of their experiments during class on Nov. 13, 2023.
Students in Sofia Alvarez-Briglie's class at Alcott Middle School in Norman, Okla., test the design of their science experiments on Nov. 13, 2023. Oklahoma has experienced a dramatic decline in teacher-prep enrollments, and teachers there say pay and politics have affected the profession's desirability.
Brett Deering for Education Week
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching What One Record-Setting Teacher Shortage Can Tell Us About the Profession
Oklahoma struggles mightily with the widespread perception that teaching is a low-wage, high-stress, low-respect profession.
Madeline Will, March 6, 2024
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13 min read
A female teacher bends over an elementary school boy's desk to help him with the slide on his microscope.
E+
Teaching Profession What the Research Says How to Refresh a Dwindling Pipeline of STEM Teachers? Researchers Share Strategies
The pool of science teachers is getting younger and less prepared than it once was.
Sarah D. Sparks, February 13, 2024
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5 min read
Conceptual image in blue: puzzle-shaped 100 American dollar banknote and red-colored question mark symbol.
Liz Yap from Education Week via iStock/Getty
Budget & Finance 4 Financial Headaches Schools May Not Be Able to Avoid This Year
Hiring challenges, new and potentially expensive state laws, and intensive audits are on the horizon.
Mark Lieberman, February 6, 2024
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6 min read
013024 Middle School Teacher EDU BS
Recruitment & Retention Video How Workplace Culture Can Affect Staffing Shortages
A recruiter and a teacher share possible solutions to ongoing teaching shortages in schools.
Elizabeth Heubeck, January 30, 2024
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2 min read
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